One day, a teacher asked his students to write the names of their fellow students on 2 pieces of paper.
They should leave some space between each name. She asked them to think about the best they could say about each fellow student and write this down under the individual's name. It took the class the rest of the hour to complete the task, and as they left the room, they each handed their assignment.
The following Saturday, the teacher wrote a list for each and every student who said what the other students had written about him. On Monday, the teacher gave each student his / her list. Soon all the students were smiling. "Real," she heard, whispered. "I did not know that I meant so much to anyone" and "I did not know the others liked me so much" were most comments.
No one later mentioned these lists. The teacher did not know if the students showed the lists or discussed the lists with their parents, but it did not matter either. The task had had the effect she wanted. The students were happy with themselves and each other, and the group of students continued on the road of life.
Many years later, one of the students was killed in Vietnam, and the teacher participated in the subsequent funeral of this particular student. She had never before seen a military person dead in a chest. He looked beautiful and looked grown like he lay there. The church was filled with his friends, and one after another they all went past the coffin one last time.
The teacher was the last who blessed the dead in the coffin. Just as she stood there, one of the soldiers who helped carry the coffin came to her. Did you know Mark's math teacher? "She nodded" yes. "Then he said," Mark talked a lot about you. "After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates took part in a hurry. Mark's mother and father were there too. With his former teacher. We want to show you something, "said Mark's father as he took his wallet off his pocket. "They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you would recognize it" while he gently folded two pieces of paper. Paper that had clearly been lost due to the wear of the many times it had been folded and put together.
The teacher knew without seeing the paper that it was the same paper on which she had written all the good things the comrades had to say about Mark. "Thank you very much for doing it," said Mark's mother.
"As you can see, Mark appreciated it very much." All Mark's comrades gathered around her? Charlie smiled crookedly and said, "I still have my list, it is at the top of my desk at home." Chuck's wife added, "Chuck specifically prayed that this was added to our wedding album." "I also have my, it's in my diary," said Marilyn.
Then Vicky, another classmate, took his wallet forward, showing his weary list to the group and proudly saying "I always have it with me. I think we all saved our list." Then the teacher sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again. The vast majority of people today behave as if they forgot that life one day will stop. But neither of us knows when this day comes. So be nice, tell the people you love and think that they are special and important to you. Tell them before it's too late.
May your day be good, lovely and special, - exactly as you are!